Paderanga vs.

Court of Appeals

G.R. No. 115407. August 28, 1995.*

REGALADO, J.:

Facts: Petitioner was belatedly charged in an amended information as a co-conspirator in the crime of
multiple murder for the killing of members of the Bucag family in Gingoog City of which petitioner was
the mayor at the time. The trial of the case was all set to start with the issuance of an arrest warrant for
petitioner’s apprehension but, before it could be served on him, petitioner, through counsel, filed a
motion for admission to bail with the trial court which set the same for hearing.

As petitioner was then confined at the hospital due to “acute costochondritis,” his counsel
manifested that they were submitting custody over the person of their client to the local chapter
president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and that, for purposes of said hearing on his bail
application, he be considered as being in the custody of the law. Respondent court observed in its
decision that at the time of petitioner’s application for bail, he was not yet “in the custody of the law,”
because 1. he filed his motion for admission to bail before he was actually arrested or had voluntarily
surrendered; 2. Petitioner was charged with a crime punishable by reclusion perpetua; 3.the evidence of
guilt was strong.

Issue: WON filing of application of bail considers an accused under custody of law.

Held: Yes. it may be conceded that petitioner had filed his motion for admission to bail before he was
actually and physically placed under arrest. He may, however, at that point and in the factual ambience
thereof, be considered as being constructively and legally under custody. Thus, in the likewise peculiar
circumstances which attended the filing of his bail application with the trial court, for purposes of the
hearing thereof he should be deemed to have voluntarily submitted his person to the custody of the law
and, necessarily, to the jurisdiction of the trial court which thereafter granted bail as prayed for. In fact,
an arrest is made either by an actual restraint of the arrestee or merely by his submission to the custody
of the person making the arrest. The latter mode may be exemplified by the so-called “house arrest” or,
in the case of military offenders, by being “confined to quarters” or restricted to the military camp area.
It should be stressed herein that petitioner, through his counsel, emphatically made it known to the
prosecution and to the trial court during the hearing for bail that he could not personally appear as he
was then confined at the nearby Cagayan Capitol College General Hospital for acute costochondritis, and
could not then obtain medical clearance to leave the hospital. The prosecution and the trial court,
notwithstanding their explicit knowledge of the specific whereabouts of petitioner, never lifted a finger
to have the arrest warrant duly served upon him.